22 Baked Popcorn Okra. Okra / Bhindi coated in chickpea flour batter, tossed in spiced breadcrumbs and baked until crunchy crisp. Vegan Recipe, can be gluten-free and oil-free. Pin this Recipe.
You know what tastes amazing breaded and crisped. I think everything! Lets bread some okra today.
Chop up some okra in bite size pieces. Make a batter of chickpea flour and water or use other flour of choice. Make the breading with chipotle pepper, cumin, nutritional yeast or use other blends like cajun, garam masala, southern fried spice or blackening spice blend. Dip the okra in the batter, remove using a slotted spoon, coat in breadcrumb mixture and bake. Done! I think I just might start to like okra when all crisped up this way. I think green beans might be fun to bread too. Have you tried breading brussels sprouts?
More okra and some breaded recipes from the blog
- Okra in tamarind coconut sauce
- Bhindi Zunka – Okra crusted with chickpea flour and spices.
- Okra and Onion Stir fry
- Breaded Tofu Strips
- Crispy spicy Cauliflower.
Prepare your breading station. Make the chickpea batter. in another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs and spices.
Toss in chickpea batter then toss in breadcrumb mixture.
Place on baking sheet and bake until crisp.
Cool slightly and serve with ketchup, chutneys, ranch or other sauce of choice. 
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Baked Popcorn Okra
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 cups (150 to 200 g) chopped okra
Batter:
- ⅓ cup (40 g) chickpea flour you might need an additional tablespoon if using besan
- ½ cup (125 ml) water
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) garlic
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 1 teaspoon oil
Breading:
- 1 cup (108 g) breadcrumbs use gf breadcrumbs or cornmeal to make glunte-free
- 1.5 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) chipotle pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) paprika
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) turmeric optional
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) garlic
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) onion powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) oregano
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
Instructions
- Chop the okra. In a bowl mix the batter ingredients. It should be the consistency of thick buttermilk. Add a few teaspoon more water or flour if needed.
- In another bowl, mix all the breading ingredients well. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220ºc.
- Add chopped okra, a half cup at a time into the batter bowl, remove using slotted spoon, tap to drop the excess batter, Transfer to breading bowl. Move the pieces around to coat, transfer to baking sheet. I put a lid on the breading bowl and move it around. This works if you ensure that there is not too much excess batter on the okra pieces. Repeat for all the okra.
- Spray oil on the breaded okra(optional). Bake at 425 degrees F / 220ºc for 20 to 23 minutes or until golden.Serve warm with chutneys, ketchup or sauces of choice! or add to salads or dal bowls.
Notes
Nutrition
Paloma
Can’t wait to try this – I love okra thanks to my southern grandma (Alabama). I first had okra like this at age five – she would dredge it in cornmeal well seasoned with just salt and lots of pepper and then would fry it – I was in heaven and have loved okra ever since. I don’t fry it – just lightly steam it whole or eat it raw – delicious and crunchy. For me the secret to okra is to keep it whole (except for this type of recipe) and don’t over cook it – though personally I’ll take it any way it comes – thank you Richa for sharing your wonderful recipes
Vegan Richa Support
thats so sweet, and interesting – ive never tried it raw
Luke
I cooked these in 2 batches in my air fryer for 14 minutes @ 390°F.
Very delicious!
Vegan Richa Support
In ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ with the air fryer!!
Abigail Wenner
Wonderful recipe. I did not spray the oil at the end and the okra was still amazingly crispy and tasty. My husband now wants to plant okra. Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
thanks for popping in & Do leave a rating if you desire
Michelle Harris Abramson
Really delicious! Thanks again for a healthy tasty meal.
Vegan Richa Support
thank YOU for stopping by and the amazing review 🌟
Alicia Thacker
This recipe sounds delicious!! I love okra! I’ll be making this very soon!!
Vegan Richa Support
hooray for okra!! let me know how you like it
Rubytwoshoes
Super impressed!
I have okra growing in my backyard…
The batter was amazing, the breadcrumbs stuck like a charm. My only suggestion is the batter needed more salt, otherwise the spices were right on.
I made “pancakes with the leftover batter and bread crumbs, my husband and I were in 7th heaven.
Richa
Awesome!
Faye
I made this a few weeks ago and it was amazing. I modified the recipe, because I only had smoked paprika. And since I used my smoked paprika, I deleted the oregano. I served it with a Everyone absolutely loved it. The only negative is that I keep nibbling on it until I was so full that my stomach hurt. Yes, it was that good.
Thank you for the great Popcorn Okra recipe!!
Richa
yay!
Thom
If folks have been raised vegan, they may not know what thick buttermilk is like.
Richa
thick milk or thin cashew cream consistency
Bev Selby
I so much loved this recipe! I used gluten free flour and skipped the oil in the batter. I did spray olive oil sparingly over the okra before using my air fryer! It was so delicious! My family devoured it!
Judy
These were amazing. I ate so many I almost made myself sick.
Richa
🙂 take a break 🙂
De Dee
How to lower sodium content in this recipe
Richa
i just checked and there was an error in the amount of breadcrumbs used in the widget calculation. updated that and now sodium is in 600.
Katrina
Made this last night. Amazing. Also covered a few potato chunks with the breading – yum. Thanks for the flavorful recipe! Happy New Year!
Richa
Awesome!
Cassie
I love this idea so much. Chickpea flour will probably work so well for lending an awesome crunch and flavor!
shrenika
Can’t find nutritional yeast in India. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute? Or better yet, do you know of any place where I can get nutritional yeast in India? 😛
Richa
in this recipe, you can omit it, since there is enough flavor going on. Nutritional yeast is available in some selective shops in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi.
Stephanie
I love okra and this sounds delicious! I’ll have to try it.
Ann
Looks yummy! When you say garlic, do you mean fresh or powdered?
Richa
powder
Ann
Thanks!
Jan Srinivasan
Apiecalypse, a vegan eatery in Toronto ,makes a fantastic version of jalapeno poppers.I might replicate that at home, using this recipe.
Thank you!
demeter | beaming baker
Omigosh, Popcorn Okra is one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard of… like ever! It’s really awesome that you made these baked too–less guilt and all of that. I’ve never tried breading brussels sprouts, but I’ve done cauliflower, tofu, oreos… well, this list could be long and embarrassing. Haha. Thanks for sharing this delightfully crispy recipe. Now I’m off to get a gallon or two of dip…
Richa
😀 yes i have breaded cauliflower and tofu too. oreos, ha, now that would be fun 🙂
Val
Can I use a different flour if I don’t have chickpea flour?
Richa
Yes you can use white or whole wheat flour.
Feroza
What is the difference between chickpea flour & basen? Thanks.
Richa
Chickpea flour in the US is generally ground white chickpeas, while Besan is ground Brown chickpeas (Kala chana or chana dal). Besan is also ground finer than chickpea flour. Because of these differences, chickpea flour generally makes a thicker batter and needs more water to achieve the similar consistency as besan batter if the recipe was written with besan. The reverse applies to recipes written with chickpea flour. In general this does not matter much and both can be used interchangeably in recipes. However, if used in baking keep this in mind to adjust the liquid.
Jane Reinsel
Can you use frozen okra? I rarely find fresh. If so, any changes to the recipe? Do I thaw it first? Does it change the bake time? Thanks, it looks amazing.
Richa
Hi Jane, you might need to add 2-3 mins to the bake time as the frozen okra will have a bit more moisture. Thaw the okra slightly and then use, so the moisture on the okra will get used in the coating and not release later during baking. Let me know how it turns out, since i haven’t tried this particular recipe with frozen.